EU, NATO welcome Russian U-turn on Kaliningrad missile deployment

Jan 28, 2009, 13:16 GMT

Brussels/Prague - NATO and the European Union on Wednesday welcomed reports that Russia would no longer be deploying missiles next to Poland and Lithuania in response to a shift in US policy on a planned missile-defence shield in the heart of Europe.

'The Russian announcement to deploy Iskander (short-range) missiles was unwelcome. If this proposal has been withdrawn, this would be a good step,' said NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero.

The report was also welcomed by Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

'Of course I welcome this change of the Russian stance. I hope that Moscow recognizes ... that it has harmed itself. Let's be glad that (Russian Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin has arrived at this conclusion,' Schwarzenberg told a press conference in Prague.

According to Russia's Interfax news agency, Moscow reversed a decision to deploy missiles in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania, after US President Barack Obama decided to review plans by his predecessor, George W Bush, to create a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The planned shield, allegedly to stop missile attacks from rogue nations such as Iran, contributed to the tension seen in recent months between Russia and the West.

Russia sees the planned US shield as a threat to its own nuclear deterrent.